Erik Prince, the founder and former CEO of the military contractor Blackwater, has reportedly supplied the White House with a memo on how to use the private sector to carry out mass deportations.
The document sets a goal of removing 12 million illegal immigrants before the 2026 midterm elections, reported Politico.
This “would require the government to eject nearly 500,000 illegal aliens per month,” the document reportedly says, noting that achieving this without the support of private contractors would be extremely difficult.
The 26-page document allegedly states that the operation would have a $25 billion price tag that would cover “processing camps” on military bases, 100 aircraft, and a “small army” of private citizens that could make arrests.
However, Prince denied the public perception that had arisen in some media circles from the purported language in the memo.
“This is not some idea of a private army,” Prince said on NewsNation’s “On Balance” on February 27. “It was a memo generated to describe how to achieve the logistics necessary to move the millions of people that they intend to deport.”
He noted that the memo describes how to carry out mass deportations “in a legal, ethical manner” with due process.
“If people think it’s a huge number, think about how we’ve been invaded. We’ve had millions of people float into the country illegally, actually paying the cartels to smuggle them in,” Prince added.
Politico also reported that the proposal was marked as “unsolicited.”
“While White House officials receive numerous unsolicited proposals from various private sector players, it is ultimately up to the agencies responsible for carrying out the President’s agenda to consider and sign contracts to advance their mission,” White House spokesman Kush Desai is quoted as telling the outlet. He also re-affirmed the President’s commitment to carrying out mass deportations.
This is not the first time a document leaked from the executive branch to the press since the President took the oath of office on January 20.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) memo reportedly obtained by Reuters showed agency officials are starting an effort to find and deport hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied children who entered the United States illegally.
Aside from leaks of proposed policies, there has been real-world action.
The Trump administration has executed a variety of new policies that have had an apparent impact on immigration. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi dismissed five midlevel assistant chief immigration judges and 13 candidates who were about to become new judges, The Dallas Express reported.
Additionally, shortly after taking office, Trump paused refugee admissions through the Refugee Admissions Program and froze federal funds. The funding freeze led to layoffs at refugee resettlement organizations across Texas, DX reported.